You Hold Me and I'll Hold You

This book is a quiet, simple way to talk about death with children without scaring them. The little girl has already dealt with major traumas in her life-- her mother walked out on their family, her hamster died-- and so when her great-aunt dies, she is prepared to experience a new aspect of grieving. She sees her father and her older relatives wracked with grief and she reaches out with new understanding. As a class read-aloud, it offers lots of children access with the side story of her hamster's death, allowing a discussion of grief and love and support to emerge easily. The absence of the mother in the story also allows other kinds of grieving and separation to be acknowledged.